Box for packaging cigarettes or other material



Nov. 22, 1960 c. P. NORTHRUP 6 BOX FOR PACKAGING CIGARETTES OR OTHER MATERIAL Filed March 27, 1957 United States Patent BOX FOR PACKAGING CIGARETTES OR OTHER MATERIAL Charles P. Northrup, 5441 N. Kenmore Ave., Chicago 10, Ill.

Filed Mar. 27, 1957, Ser. No. 648,918 3 Claims. (Cl. 229-20) This invention relates to an improvement in cartons or boxes and it is adapted to the packaging of a wide variety of merchandise, for example cigarettes, candy, hardware such as nails, tacks and screws, and other merchandise, especially but not exclusively, merchandise of which a plurality of pieces are packed in one container and generally withdrawn one by one from the container.

The main objects of the invention are to provide a simple but efiicient, reclosable box suitable for the purpose indicated; to provide such a reclosable box which, although made of light weight fiberboard stock, is sufficiently strong and rigid to prevent crushing of the box and its contents incident to carrying of the filled box in a coat pocket or purse so as to render the package well suited for packaging cigarettes; to provide a package of the character indicated which may be fabricated from a single paperboard blank and which will be economically practicable in respect of the amount of fiberboard stock required and in respect of the required fabricating operations; and in general it is the object of the invention to provide an improved box or carton of the character indicated.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be understood by reference to the following specification and accompanying drawing wherein a selected form of the improved package is illustrated.

In the drawing:

Figure l is a plan view of a fiberboard blank from which the improved carton may be formed;

Figures 2 and 3 are perspective illustrations representing successive steps in the folding of the blank of Figure l to form the carton;

Figure 4- is a perspective illustration showing the completed carton partially opened;

Figure 5 is a perspective illustration showing the completed carton fully opened; and

Figure 6 is a cross section through the upper portion of the open carton as represented by the line 6-6 of Figure 5.

A fiberboard blank of selected weight stock to suit the purposes for which the carton is to be formed is cut and scored to provide a blank substantially as shown in Figure 1. This blank includes a main back wall panel 1 which is bounded by wall panels 2, 3, 4 and 5 which are respectively connected to the edges of the panel 1 by suitable fold lines indicated at 6.

A panel 2 foldably connected to said back wall panel along a suitable fold line 6a, constitutes a top wall panel when the box is closed, and additional permanent end or top wall panels 7 and S are foldably connected to the upper ends of the wall panels 3 and 5 by suitable fold lines 9. A closure forming panel 10 is foldably connected by a suitable fold line 11 to the panel 2 and another closure panel 12 is foldably connected by suitable fold line 13 to the panel 10. The ends of the panels 2 and 10 are separated from the adjacent sides of the top wall panels 7 and 8 by continuous slits 7a and 8a respectively, these slits extending completely through the thickness of the blank.

The closure panel 12 is part of a sleeve structure which is formed from panels 14 and 15, these being foldably connected as indicated at 16 to the opposite ends of said panel 12, a rear panel 17 which is connected by a suitable fold line 18 to the panel 14, and a panel 19 which is connected by a suitable fold line 20 to the panel 17. The panels 14 and 15 are separated by slits 14a and 15a respectively from the adjacent ends of said panels 7 and 8.

The lower portion of the blank comprises the aforesaid end panel 4 which is a bottom-forming panel, a pair of bottom-forming panels 21 and 22 which are respectively hingedly connected by suitable fold lines 23 to the lower ends of the side wall panels 3 and 5. Said panels or flaps 21 and 22 are separated by slits 21a and 22a from the respectively adjacent ends of said bottom panel 4.

A front wall is provided by a panel 24 which is hinged to the front edge of the side wall panel 3 by a suitable fold line 25. An additional bottom-forming panel 26 is hingedly connected as indicated at 27 to the lower edge of the front panel 24 and a side or gluing flap or panel 23 is hingedly connected as indicated at 29 to one end of the front wall panel 24. The bottom panel 26 is separated by a slit 26a from the adjacent edge of the bot tom flap 21.

The blank embodying the above described elements is formed into a receptacle by folding the side and bottom panels 3, 4 and 5 into upstanding relation to the back panel 1 and by folding the permanent top wall panels 7 and 8 into mutually overlapping relationship in which they are glued together as shown in Figure 2. The bottom panel 4 is preferably, although not necessarily, glued to the folded flaps 21 and 22 which are folded inwardly from the side wall panels 3 and 5 before the bottom panel 4 is folded to bottom wall position.

The front wall panel 24 is folded about the fold line 25 so as to extend across the lower portion of the open front of the receptacle and its side panel or glue flap 28 is folded on its fold line 29 into face-to-face relation to the outside of the side wall panel 5. The bottom flap 26 of said front wall 24 is folded under and glued to the previously folded bottom panel 4.

A sliding cover structure is formed from the panels 2, 1t), 12, 1 15, 17 and 19. As shown in Figure 3, the panel 2 is folded about its adjacent fold line 6 across the top wall panels 7 and 8, and the panels 10 and 12 are folded downwardly into overlying relation to the remaining open upper portion of the receptacle. The panel 14 is folded rearwardly of the box across its side wall panel 3 and the panel 17 is folded on the fold line 18 across the back of the receptacle and its end panel 19 is folded forwardly across the side panel 5. The panel 15 is folded rearwardly on its fold line 16 into overlapping relation to the panel 19 and adhesively secured thereto. It will be seen that the panels 12, 14, 17, 19 and 15 form a sleeve about the receptacle and this sleeve is so formed that it is slidable lengthwise over the open upper portion of the receptacle.

As shown in Figure 3, the carton is in fully closed condition. To open it, the sleeve structure is slid up wardly over the upper portion of the receptacle. This is permitted by the flexibility or foldability of the panels 10 and 2 and their folding connection 11 to each other, the folding connection 13 of said panel 10 to the panel 12, and the folding connection 6a of the panel 2 to the upper end of the back wall 1 of the receptacle. In the fully opened position as shown in Figures 5 and 6, the

ICC Patented Now-22, 1960- panel 2 which is initially the outer upper end closure panel as shown in Figure 3, extends upwardly in continuation of the back wall 1 and the panel 10 then extends forwaIdly to its folding connection 13 with the front portion 12 ofthe coversleeve. Itwill be observed that when the sleeve is slid downwardly to close the receptacle, the panel 10 is shifted into coplanar relation to the sleeve wall 12 so as to cooperate therewith to form a closure overlying the entire open area of the receptacle as shown in Figure 3. In the fully open position, the sliding cover structure may also be bent on the fold line 6a to a rearwardly inclined angle to more fully expose the top wall or end 7 of the receptacle, but this is not usually necessary.

When the cover is in the open position shown in Figs. and 6, the back wall 17 of the cover overlaps the upper portion of the back 1 of the receptacle, and lower rear corner portions of the side walls, 14 at one side and 15, 19' at the other side, overlap upperrear corner portions of the sides of the receptacle. The normal resiliency of the board stock from which the box is made, tends to keep the back wall 17 of the cover against the back wall 1 of the receptacle and said cover portions which overlap receptacle portions in the open position of the cover constitute guides which steer the cover properly downwardly over the receptacle to closed position.

When the carton is to be used for packaging cigarettes, it is preferred that the permanent top wall panels 7 and 8 have their front edges recessed as indicated at 30 and 31 respectively. This recessing will expose end portions of the front layer of cigarettes and make it easy to extract the cigarettes. Flexibility of the front wall 24 permits the latter to be bulged outwardly slightly in connection with the withdrawal of the first and subsequent cigarettes from a front layer thereof.

To aid in holding the cover sleeve in closed position, friction producing humps 32 may be provided on the rear edges of the side walls 3 and 5 by appropriately slitting the blank as illustrated in Figure 1. By providing these bumps on the back edges of the side walls, the front panel 12 and panel of the cover structure will be held in coplanar relationship, tight against the front edges of the side walls 3 and 5. Such friction humps may, of course, be provided on the front edges of the Walls 3 and 5 if preferred.

In the closed position of the cover, the cover constitutes reinforcement of the central portion of the receptacle to resist crushing or collapsing of the box. This is an especially desirable feature when the box is used for packaging cigarettes, packages of which are commonly subjected to crushing pressure in a womans purse or handbag and in mens clothing pockets. The reinforcement provided by the sides of the cover sleeve to help prevent flattening of the box and its contents is particularly desirable.

. The described carton may be automatically fabricated in many ways. One method would be to employ a mandrel having length, width and thickness dimensions corresponding to the interior of the receptacle and to fold the side walls 3, 5, 7 and 8 into side and end wall relationship, the walls 7 and 8 being glued together. Then the sleeve structure may be formed in substantially the position illustrated in Figure 3. During these steps, the flaps 4, 21, 22, 24, 26 and 28 may remain in unfolded condition. The front wall panel 24 and its gluing flap or panel 29 may also be folded to the position illustrated in Figure 2 and the flap 28 adhered to the side wall 5 while the latter continues to be supported by the mandrel. The mandrel may then be removed leaving the carton with its bottom open. The carton may be filled through its open bottom, and the bottom forming panels 21, 22, 4 and 26 then folded inwardly in the order recited or otherwise as preferred and glued in bottom-forming position by adhesiveapplied to the appropriate surfaces of said bottom-forming panels. This sealing of the carton closed maybe efiected by adhesive between only the outermost V 4 flaps or panels, for example, between only the panels 4 and 26.

It will be observed that when the box is closed, as in Figure 3, the top and bottom ends each embody three plies of the fiberboard; also, one side is strengthened by the sleeve side 14 while the opposite side is strengthened by the overlapped and adhesively bonded panels 15 and 19, one side being thereby given the rigidity of two plies of the fiberboard and the other side being given the rigidity of three plies of the fiberboard. The plural ply construction present on each side and on the top and bottom ends of the box imparts substantial strength to the box and enables it to effectively resist crushing; this makes the box highly suited to the packaging of cigarettes or other frail or fragile material because the box will effectively resist crushing so as to protect its contents against crushing.

In Figure 1 fold lines are represented by the broken lines for clarity of illustration. It is, of course, to be understood that the fold lines will be in the form of conventional, continuous creases, or partially slit creases, or of any suitable form.

For cutting the described blanks from large sheets of fiberboard stock with a minimum of waste, the blanks may be interfitted with the panels 2 26 and 28 of one blank, and the panels 17 and 19 of another blank occupying the space between the panels 17 and 24 of a third blank. Hence, there will be very little waste in the cutting of the blanks from large sheets of stock. 1

Other methods of fabricating the carton may also be employed and various changes in the details of the carton may be made while retaining the principles of the described construction.

I claim:

I. A'box having a. receptacle which embodies back, front, side, top and bottom walls, the front wall extending from side to side of the receptacle and from the bottom toward the top thereof for only a part of the distance between said bottom and top walls, the upper front portion of the receptacle remaining open to afford access to the interior of the receptacle, and a cover embodying a sleeve which extends around the upper portion of said receptacle and is slidable upwardly and downwardly thereon, said sleeve having a front wall portion of a size to cover a lower part of said open front of the receptacle when said cover is in closed position with the lower edge of its front wall disposed adjacent to the upper edge of the receptacle front wall in abutting relation thereto, a back wall portion of greater top-tobottom dimension than said front wall portion, and a pair of side walls which interconnect said front and back walls of said sleeve in fixed relation, the upper edges of said front, back and side walls of the sleeve being disposed in substantially a common horizontal plane and said back wall portion of the sleeve extending downwardly below the level of the lower edge of said front wall portion, a first panel hingedly connected to the upper edge of said front wall portion of the sleeve and extending upwardly therefrom to cooperate therewith to completely cover the open front portion of the receptacle, and a second panel having front and back edges hingedly connected respectively to the upper edge of said first panel and to the upper edge of said receptacle back wall, said first and second panels being arranged to limit the downward movement of said sleeve front wall portion to said position of abutment with the upper edge of said receptacle front wall.

2. A one piece box having a receptacle which embodies back, front, side, top and bottom walls, the front wall extending from side to side of the receptacle and from the bottom toward the top thereof for only a part of the distance between said bottom and top walls, the upper front portion of the receptacle remaining open to afford access to the interior of the receptacle, one of said side walls embodying mutually overlapped panel portions,

which extend respectively from the front and back walls and are adhesively bonded together, the panel portion which extends from said front wall having an upper abutment edge which extends angularly downwardly and rearwardly from the upper edge of said front wall, and said top and bottom walls each embodying at least two mutually overlapped and adhesively bonded panel portions, and a cover embodying a sleeve which extends around the upper portion of said receptacle and is slidable upwardly and downwardly thereon, said sleeve having a front wall portion of a size to cover a lower part of said open front of the receptacle when said cover is in closed position with the lower edge of its front wall portion disposed adjacent to the upper edge of the receptacle front wall, a back wall portion of greater top-to-bottom dimension than said sleeve front wall portion, a pair of side walls which interconnect said front and back walls of said sleeve, the upper edges of said front, back and side walls of the sleeve being disposed substantially in a common horizontal plane, said sleeve back wall extending downwardly below the level of the lower edge of said front Wall, and the cover side wall which is slidable over the receptacle side having said abutment edge being inclined downwardly and rearwardly from the lower edge of said cover front wall at an angle corresponding to the angle of said abutment edge and engageable therewith for stopping downward sliding of said cover in a predetermined, closed position, a first panel hingedly connected to the upper edge of said front Wall of the sleeve and extending upwardly therefrom to cooperate therewith to completely cover the open front of the receptacle, and a second panel having front and back edges hingedly connected respectively to the upper edge of said first panel and to the upper edge of said receptacle back wall, said second panel being in face-to-face engagement with the top closure of the receptacle in closed position and c0- operating with said top closure to form a stiff three-ply wall.

3. A generally rectangular box comprising a partially enclosed receptacle having a back wall, a pair of side walls, a pair of end walls, and a front wall, said receptacle walls being fixedly interconnected with said front wall extending from one end wall in generally parallel relation to said back wall, said receptacle front wall having a length substantially less than said back wall to thereby also provide a front opening for said receptacle terminating at the other of said pair of end walls, and a movable cover for said receptacle front opening comprising a rectangular sleeve portion slidably disposed about said receptacle and having a front wall portion of an area sufficient to cover a part of said receptacle front opening and having a back wall of a length substantially less than the length of the back wall of said receptacle, a pair of hingedly interconnected panels which are also hingedly connected, respectively, to said sleeve front portion and said receptacle back wall, one of said panels being disposed for cooperation with said sleeve front portion to completely cover said receptacle front opening and the other of said panels being disposed to cover said other end wall of said receptacle when said sleeve is moved to a closed position wherein said sleeve front wall portion is disposed with its free edge engaging the free edge of said receptacle front wall, and means on said box providing frictional engagement between said sleeve portion and said receptacle when said sleeve is in said closed position to thereby yieldingly hold said sleeve in said closed position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 656,948 Craw Aug. 28, 1900 1,123,057 Yordusky Dec. 29, 1914 1,185,560 Walcutt May 30, 1916 FOREIGN PATENTS 159,686 Germany Apr. 4, 1905 

